In the field of fiber optic telecommunications, there is a need to optically connect various optical fibers together to complete optical circuits. The optical fibers are often optically connected together within racks, frames, and/or cabinets (hereinafter “cabinetry” or cabinets”) to connect and thereby complete the optical circuits. The cabinets may further include various optical components. The optical fibers may be routed to, from, and between various cabinets with the optical fibers protected within various optical fiber cables. The cabinets may be remotely located from each other and/or from the optical components to which the optical fiber cables are routed. The optical fibers may be routed between various optical components within the cabinets.
In certain applications, the optical fibers may be ribbonized. A ribbon including ribbonized optical fibers may include a plurality of the optical fibers bonded together side-by-side with a suitable material (e.g., polymer materials, tapes, etc.).
There is a need to route optical fiber ribbons and/or optical fiber ribbon stacks within cabinets and frames such as those illustrated at U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,215,938 and 6,556,763. In addition, there is a need to route optical fiber ribbons and/or ribbon stacks to, from, and/or around splice trays, such as those illustrated at U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,215,938 and 6,556,763. In particular, there is a need to route optical fiber ribbons and/or optical fiber ribbon stacks to, from, and around the splice trays as the splice trays are removed from and installed into the cabinets and/or the frames.